Gaming Life in Japan

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Kenji Eno: still the most hated game developer in the country.

By IGN Staff

Friggin' SCE! We commented in last week's intro that Sony Computer Entertainment had no plans to reduce the price of the Pu-re-ste Tsu for the year end sales race. And then what do they go and do? They go and drop the price! For this reason, we've decided to use the phrase Pu-re-ste Tsu in place of PlayStation 2 because SCE doesn't allow Japanese magazines to do that. Niyah, niyah, niyah!

The PS2 (Pu-re-ste Tsu) will finally be seeing a price drop for the Japanese market, down from the current price of 25000 yen to 19800 yen. The broadband adapter set which includes the system, hard disk and broadband adapter, will go down from 35000 yen to 29800 yen. All of this will take place on 11/13 and should do big things for sales of that day's two biggest titles: Let's Marathon and Love Smash (big-busted robots playing tennis).

In addition to the price drop, SCE revealed a new standard color for the system: Skeleton Midnight Black. Don't confuse this with Skeleton Midnight Blue, which is the color for the broadband package system. There will also soon be a Ceramic White colored system bundled with Gran Turismo 4 Prologue on 12/4 for the price of 22000 yen. And don't even ask about the "Satin Silver" system that will be sold exclusively through Toys R Us shortly.

The new model PS2 system

New prices and colors means, of course, new marketing! SCE unveiled its fall PS2 marketing campaign, which includes commercials that end with "Sorry to have kept you waiting." The first four commercials, now showing in Japan can be viewed in streaming form by following the below links.

These ads will be followed by hopefully louder ads once the price drop takes effect.

The effect of this flurry of new colors, packages and prices should be a revival for recent low PS2 sales. Stay tuned for next week's sales charts to see how things turn out.

FAMITSU JOUHOU GO!

Mario Kart Double Dash!! gets the cover honors for issue 779 of Japan's Weekly Famitsu magazine. The magazine features the first in a series of strategy guides for the game which last week took the highest review score from the magazine's reviewing staff.

Also featured in the issue is a special Sammy DVD showing footage of Seven Samurai 20XX and Spy Fiction. Bonus DVDs are rare with Famitsu, but next month will also see one, this time titled "Hot Games DVD." Gran Turismo 4 footage will be included.

Once again, there isn't a whole lot in the way of breaking game news in the issue, with titles like Gundam Z, Monster Hunter and Kunoichi, all covered in the last issue, getting a good amount of space. New info includes:

J-Phoenix 2: Don't confuse this with Kikou Hendai J-Phoenix 2: Joshou hen, which centered on tutorial missions. This full-fledged J-Phoenix 2 places you in command in various battle locations and of over 140 machines, bringing back popular missions, characters and parts from earlier entries in the series. You can have up to three units take part simultaneously in battle. A so-called "ring radar" system is used to quickly identify distance and numbers for enemies and allies in your area. You can have the computer search the area for an enemy to automatically lock on to, and will stay locked on in the air and even when hiding. Set for PS2 release from Takara in February of 2004.

Convoy Densetsu: The next big trucking game is being released in Japan for the PS2 from Taito. This isn't an original game, though. Convoy Densetsu is just the Japanese version of Big Mutha Truckers which is already out in America and Europe. A Japanese release is expected on 1/22/2004.

Secret Weapons Over Normandy: Famitsu seems to love getting Japanese scoops on Electronic Arts titles, and this is one example. The game will hit the Japanese PS2 on January 29 of next year.

SD Gundam G Generation Advance: One of three Gundam games covered in this week's issue, this GBA title features over 650 event scenes to help tell its story and numerous Gundam units to take part in team-based battles. The game also promises some new gameplay systems. The ID Command system has you use SP points to select lines of dialogue to be used in battle. The lines you can choose from are taken from the original animation shows and actually affect your battle parameters when used. Additionally, the game features a "Kaihatsu" ("development") system in which you can modify and strengthen up your Gundam unit. Development is finished on this game, which is due out on 11/27.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Senshi Tachi no Kiseki: GameCube finally gets its own Gundam game. This game is more than just pure action in that you have to also command your ally machines and strategically determine which route to take to defeat your enemies. The interface for the game allows you to see the current status of the battle field so that you can check up on enemy positions. As far as action is concerned, you'll be able to attack, jump and block using a simple control scheme. Development is at 50% on this year 2004 game.

The special Gundam-themed GameCubehits retail before the Gundam game.

As no big releases are planned for this week, it makes sense that the magazine shouldn't have much in the way of big reviews. Here's a look:

Ao Zoura to Nakamatachi: Yume no Bouken Plus, MTO, PS: 7,5,6,6

Sister Princess 2 Premium Fan Disk, Media Works, PS: 6,5,6,6

NBA Live 2004, Electronic Arts, PS2: 8,8,7,8

Marathon Shiyouyo!, Taito, PS2: 7,8,7,7

Busin 0 Wizardry Alternative Neo, Atlus, PS2: 9,7,8,8

Pride GP 2003, Capcom, PS2: 7,6,7,6

Lover Smash! 5: Tennis Robo no Hanron, D3 Publisher, PS2: 6,5,5,4

Rocky, Success, PS2: 8,6,7,8

Harry Potter World Cup, Electronic Arts, PS2: 6,6,6,6

Harry Potter World Cup, Electronic Arts, GCN: 6,6,6,6

Harry Potter World Cup, Electronic Arts, GBA: 6,6,5,8

Koinuchan no Hajimete no Osanpu, TDK Core, GBA: 6,5,5,6

This week, we'll be playing more Siren.

Another cool little survey can be found on the pages of Famitsu for this week. The magazine's Online counterpart, Famitsu.com, asked its readers what game they're most anticipating for the end of the year. The replies are as follows:

IGN Japan is most excited about number ten and the least excited about number 1 (since we already have it).

NINTENDO PROMO BEGINS Nintendo has begun some of its year-end promotions for the Japanese market. When we opened up our copies of Atsumre: Made in Wario, we found a little Club Nintendo flier inside containing a serial number. When we opened up our copies of Mario Kart, we found, in addition to a similar flier, a cute little Hot Mario campaign button. Check it out here:

When you register your name at the Club Nintendo website and input the serial number for at least one game, you're taken to the following screen:

Hot Mario button and ClubNintendo serial number.

That's right! Mario Kart gave us a whopping 60 points, meaning we're well on our way to earning a few e-Cards for our e-Card reader. Yeah for us!

There are a couple of added benefits of being a member of Club Nintendo (in addition to saying that you're a member of Club Nintendo sounds super cool). First, you're automatically entered into contests like the Hot Mario campaign, which will give 3000 lucky gamers a Famicom themed Game Boy Advance with a special copy of Super Mario Brothers. No need to screw up your collection by sending stuff in!

The other benefit was revealed this past week as Nintendo announced its distribution plans for the Zelda bonus disk that everyone's talking about in America. The disk will be available only to Club Nintendo members who'll have to exchange their hard earned points for it. Better not cost too much!

FAMITSU TGS SURVEY Last week, we provided you with some of the more serious questions from Famitsu's big Tokyo Game Show survey in which the magazine quizzed 4000 showgoers as well as a few game developers on a variety of game-related issues. As promised, this week we've got a few more questions from teh survey.

Uhh... not to bite the hand that feeds us or anything, but we think the only reason Enterbrain is on that list is because people assumed they'd get prizes for selecting it (Famitsu is published by Enterbrain).

And now, booth babes. Called "companions" in Japan (although they rarely actually serve as direct companions to the show goers), these girls are a mainstay at the Tokyo Game Show, and their outfits keep on getting better and better. This year, the top five according to showgoers were:

5. Square Enix 4. Konami 3. Capcom 2. Namco 1. Microsoft

We tend to agree, although we hope next year Famitsu does a girl-by-girl rating featuring 100 different girls and their names, hobbies and three sizes.

Now onto software. To provide a neat transition, here's a question specifically dealing with software shown at Tokyo Game Show.

Commented Kojima about being selected number one, "I feel extremely happy. I've been creating games for 18 years. I was able to continue for so long because of the support of everyone. I'd like to continue making game that don't let expectations down."

That's right, the one, the only Kenji Eno takes top, uhh, honors. Despite not being affiliated with videogame development any longer, the former head man at Warp, producer of D's Diner and Enemy Zero and verbal naysayer of the PlayStation brand is still the most hated videogame developer in Japan. Famitsu did not receive comments from Eno on the matter, but you can see the man's picture to the right. He was last spotted on a Japanese television show where he revealed some lies he told in his past in order to get his first game making job.

Finally, the magazine did a little self survey, asking showgoers what they thought of Weekly Famitsu. Here are some of the comments:

Want more articles

What's the name of the character on the front?

Want to see Game Wave (Famitsu's old television show)

Recently, interesting articles have dropped in number

There's too much emphasis on surveys The more surveys the better, if you ask us!

SO NO TA Other news from Japan over the past week includes:

End to Sony Computer Entertainment Last week, it was revealed that Sony is planning an organization change that could see the Sony Computer Entertainment entity come to an end. If the plan goes through, Sony as a whole will be divided into four companies: a hardware company, a contents company a financial company and a parent company that oversees the other three. While the PlayStation product would fall under the hardware company, Sony is looking into making PlayStation software fall under the contents company. Whatever the case, we doubt any of these divisions will end up having a geeky name like "Sony Computer Entertainment."

Sony memory cards Sony Computer Entertainment revealed plans to release special game-specific memory cards to coincide with the release of key PS2 games. Included in the bunch will be Sonic Heroes, Wild Arms, Taiko no Tatsujin and Resident Evil. See IGNPS2 for pics of the cards and release dates. What we're wondering is how the execs at Hori, the company which previously released officially licensed game-themed memory cards for big titles reacted at this news.

Wild Arms isn't alone.

Final Fantasy Date America will soon be getting an English language version of Final Fantasy X-2. But that's not the ultimate version of the game, believe it or not. Square Enix announced this past week a final release date for Final Fantasy X-2: International + Last Mission, the Japanese re-release of Final Fantasy X-2. The game will feature a host of additions not included in the American version, like the ability to capture and train monsters, and some extra costumes. The game will arrive to Japan on 2/19 and is already guaranteed a success, given the tremendous sales of Final Fantasy X International.

Sonic Heroes Delay Despite Sonic being more popular in America than in his land of origin, Sonic Heroes comes out first in Japan: December 18. Or so it was thought until this past week when Sonic Team announced a slight delay to the title. The game will now arrive on December 30 for Xbox, PS2 and GameCube. Yes, a release date five days after Christmas may seem strange, but it's not that big a deal in Japan.

Xbox and Pizza Microsoft Japan's latest in wacky promotions mixes Xbox with Pizza to get... Xza! MS and Nagoya-based Aoki's Pizza will be teaming up for the descriptively-named Eat Aoki's Pizza, Get Xbox campaign whereby patrons of Aoki's Pizza can win an Xbox by, as the name suggests, eating Aoki's Pizza. From 11/7 to 12/25, those who order a pizza costing 2000 yen or more will be entered into a drawing for one of 100 Xbox systems and 30 Xbox games. If you ask us, this is much better than winning an Xbox shell designed by some aspiring young artist.